Polish president warns ‘Brexit’ would be serious crisis

Britain’s departure from the EU would be a “very serious crisis” for Europe, Polish President Andrzej Duda warned in an interview with the BBC on Wednesday.

“Let’s not pretend, a UK exit from the EU will be a very serious crisis for the EU. Of that I have no doubt,” the conservative leader said.

Duda added that he wanted the EU “fixed” to become more efficient and democratic but said his supporters were “euro-realists” not “eurosceptics”.

He said he was opposed to Britain’s proposal to limit in-work benefits for migrants from other parts of the European Union for their first four years in Britain.

“I do not agree with contravening our basic freedoms, which we have in the EU framework — one of which is the principle of non-discrimination,” he said.

“And this is where I am completely against changing that principle.”

Cameron has said he will campaign for Britain to stay in the European Union in a referendum due to be held by the end of 2017 but only on condition that other EU leaders agree to a list of demands.

Cameron’s Conservative Party is riven with tensions over Europe and some ministers are believed to be in favour of Britain leaving the bloc.

Former foreign minister William Hague warned in the Daily Telegraph newspaper on Wednesday that a “Brexit” could break up the United Kingdom if England voted to leave and Scotland voted to remain in the EU.

He said eurosceptics like himself should vote “through gritted teeth” to remain in.

“Even as a long-standing critic of so much of that struggling organisation, I am unlikely in 2016 to vote to leave it,” he said.